METS 7, NATIONALS 2; Mets Change Their Order, And Change Their Luck

By BEN SHPIGEL

Published: April 24, 2008

WASHINGTON -- There are no style points, no rewards for creativity or flair reflected on the scoreboard. A run is a run, counting the same whether achieved via error, home run or divine intervention. That is why there was no protesting inside the Mets' clubhouse after Johan Santana shut down the Washington Nationals in a 7-2 victory Wednesday night to snap a three-game skid.

An offense that accounted for a total of 2 runs and 10 hits during two losses in Chicago was shaken up and revealed an improved capacity for capitalizing on tiny openings. The Mets scored four straight runs on batted balls that did not leave the infield.

''Tonight, we manufactured some things, used our speed, had the guys on contact in all those situations,'' said Manager Willie Randolph, who dropped Carlos Delgado to sixth in the order and moved Ryan Church to fifth. ''Sometimes you have force it a little bit. We're going to come at you with speed, and tonight we pushed it a little bit harder.''

The revenge of small ball provided a counterpart to a complete Mets performance that defined their inaugural appearance at Nationals Park:

No errors, mental or otherwise.

Four stolen bases -- their most all season -- including two by ngel Pag?on consecutive pitches in a three-run sixth.

Duaner S?hez, for the first time since returning, pitching the eighth inning in a potential save situation as a gateway to closer Billy Wagner.

Santana allowed two runs and seven hits. He struck out four, retiring 9 of his final 10 hitters. As a bonus, he hit two doubles. See Santana hit. See Santana pitch. See Mets win.

''You come into this game, you want to do whatever to stop that losing streak that we have,'' Santana said. ''And at the same time, you know, try to do my job.''

Carlos Beltr? in a vague reference to his own deficiencies of late, added, ''I think he's doing better than a lot of the guys on the team.''

There was no truth to the rumor that Randolph would now consider batting Santana fifth. Beltr? with the surging Church batting behind him in an effort to revive a stagnant middle of the lineup, had two hits -- doubling his total from his previous 21 at-bats -- and scored twice. Delgado added an opposite-field single, going with an outside pitch, and drove in the Mets' first run with a groundout. Church joined in by bashing a two-run double in the ninth.

''You guys think I don't know what I'm doing, but there's a method to my madness,'' Randolph said of his lineup machinations.

Even if his r?m?annot compete with that of Santana, Tim Redding is the Nationals' version of an ace. Through the Nationals' 22 games, he has earned half of their six victories. Despite that, Santana is the Mets' ace, and he was expected to deliver an overpowering performance equal to or better than the masterly seven innings he supplied last Friday in Philadelphia. Ending losing streaks occasionally takes precedence over extending winning streaks.

''As long as we get it back to even or get ahead by one, we're pretty confident he can bear down and shut them down,'' Church said of Santana.

His lone mishap came in the fourth, after retiring the first two hitters, when singles to the Nos. 7 and 8 hitter, Wily Mo Pe?nd Wil Nieves, preceded a booming two-run double by Redding.

''That told me that you have to be ready for everybody,'' Santana said. ''It doesn't matter who the hitter is.''

Trailing in the fifth, 2-1, the Mets rallied when Brian Schneider and Santana worked consecutive one-out walks. Jos?eyes grounded into a fielder's choice, erasing Santana at second, but Schneider scampered to third. Luis Castillo followed by chopping a three-hopper behind the mound that shortstop Cristian Guzm?fielded cleanly but fired a split-second late to first, allowing Schneider to score the tying run.

Rejuvenated, but still knotted at 2-2, the Mets chased Redding in the sixth after Beltr?led off with a single. Enter the left-hander Ray King, and here is when the Mets' luck started to change. Church squibbed a grounder toward third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, a ball that had what Church called ''a little Tiger Woods spin.'' Zimmerman corralled the ball in an awkward position and threw wide of first baseman Nick Johnson. The ball skidded by the rolled-up tarpaulin beside the Nationals' dugout, and Beltr?came all the way around from first to score.

With one out, Pag?tapped a slow roller up the first-base line. King hurried, bouncing the throw, but it did not matter. Pag?had already tagged the bag and Church scored to extend the Mets' lead to 4-2. With Schneider batting, Pag?stole second, then third, and when Schneider was thrown out after glancing a grounder off King's glove, another run scored.

''We didn't knock the walls down tonight, but still that's the kind of game you have to win every once in a while,'' Randolph said.

PHOTO: Johan Santana (3-2) held Washington to two runs in seven innings, retiring 9 of his final 10 hitters. He also had two doubles. (PHOTOGRAPH BY GREG FIUME/GETTY IMAGES) (pg.D3)